1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vehicle attachments and, more particularly, to a lifting attachment for use with a vehicle having a trailer hitch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pickup trucks, vans and the like (hereafter collectively referred to as pickup trucks) of the type having a flat rear bed are becoming increasingly popular vehicles for general use. One reason for the increasing popularity of pickup trucks is their ability to carry both large and heavy cargo in the truck bed. A still further reason for the increased popularity of pickup trucks is their ability to tow trailers, boats and other types of loads behind the pickup truck. For this reason, many pickup trucks are equipped with trailer hitches, e.g. the type in which a square tube extends rearwardly from beneath the truck bed of the pickup truck.
Even though pickup trucks are particularly useful for carrying heavy loads, it is oftentimes difficult to place the load into the bed of the pickup truck due to the weight of the load. For example, in many situations where the load cannot be simply hand lifted into the bed of the pickup truck, ramps, come alongs and the like are oftentimes used to load the cargo into the truck bed. The use of ramps, come alongs and the like to load heavy cargo into the truck bed, however, is oftentimes not only difficult, but also frequently impractical.